Red Mark Messengers
by xfmoon
Summary: A Jane introspective tag to 6x02


**A/N:** A Jane introspective tag to 6x02 inspired by a very profound post on Tumblr about the pigeons in 6x01 and 6x02, people are so smart and see things that I don't. Credits go to thementalistinthetardis for the idea.

**Spoilers:** Everything up to and including 6x02 Black-Winged Redbird.

**Disclaimer: **So far no carrier pigeon has brought me the rights to The Mentalist.

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The pigeons in the park gave him pause, made his mind wander...

Her mother feeding pigeons... her dead mother... dead...

Her voice brought him back._ "Do you wanna be alone?" _

He definitely did not want to be alone. For a long time he'd thought he was better off alone but the previous night's events had shown him just how much he needed her.

Rushing to the abandoned house she'd been called out to - or lured out to, was probably a better description - seeing her car among all the SAC PD vehicles and the ambulance had put his heart in an iron grip, and the black plastic body bag had almost had him at his knees. That was until he'd learned that it wasn't her, that she was still in there with the EMTs. That meant that she was still alive. He'd rushed in the door then, through dirty rooms in the ramshackled house, until he happened upon a couple of paramedics huddled over a mattress that looked like it once had been white. He saw her legs first, and as he moved forward time seemed to slow down with each step, dread crept up through his spine, his breath held back, while expecting to see a crimson color covering her neck. He came to were her head was, and bend down to look past one of the men, a little gasp escaped him at the grim mark on her face, but relief that that was the only red to be seen on her body, made him feel like crying.

As long as the EMTs were doing their job he couldn't do anything, he had to stand back, to wait. Though she looked relatively unharmed she wasn't awake, so something was definitely not as it should be, but he took comfort in the fact that she hadn't been gruesomely butchered in this grim setting. No one deserved that. Not even Partridge. As he stood there helplessly looking at her, sounds started to seep into his ears, and he realized he hadn't heard anything since someone had said she was in the house. The shrill sounds of the sirens outside was contrasted by the soft coo coos of the pigeons that had claimed the house as their own. He looked up - needing to see something other than her unmoving form - they were practically everywhere, and at that moment, being illuminated by the alternating red and blue lights from the windows, they looked like something out of a nightmare..., limping, one-eyed and all with foul ruffled feathers.

The paramedics put her on a stretcher and got her out of that dreadful place, he walked out by her side, thereby being able to hold her hand, feeling the warmth that meant that she was alive.

He barely registered that Bertram was there, if anything it only fueled his need to get that horrible mark off of her face, and so he found himself ignoring everyone while frantically asking for a bottle of water. And while the ambulance took them to the hospital he gently removed every trace of red on her skin.

While she was being examined more closely at the hospital, he calmed down a bit. He hadn't lost her, she was still alive. But her being out of his sights still made him a little anxious and uneasy. It wasn't until the doctor came out and told him that aside from the Taser burn she was unharmed, that he felt he could breathe freely again.

He was allowed to stay in her room, and now she just needed to wake up, her being unresponsive to his touch still lightly pinched his heart with worry. She was going to be fine, he knew that, but until she opened her eyes, so he could see for himself, until she spoke so he could hear her voice, he wasn't going to be convinced.

_"I'm gonna go back to my office." _Her voice cut through his runaway thoughts.

Hours of worrying had flashed by in mere seconds, it was going to be one of those moments he'd have to file away under things he had caused, paid the price for and regretted dearly. Moments that reminded him what was most precious in life.

_"No, no wait, wait." _He managed to croak out, once again reminding him of recent events, more precisely his latest phone conversation..., he mentally shook his head, he really needed to shake this off, so he could concentrate again, but it wasn't as easy as it looked. He'd almost lost everything in a matter of seconds. The promise of a life not yet lived.

Unaware of the turmoil he was in because of her, she said: _"I'm waiting." _

Yes that was right, he thought. She was waiting. Patiently. And she did it all for him, he didn't know what he'd done to deserve it, but he wasn't going to ever take her for granted ever again, and if it was up to him she wasn't going to be waiting around for that much longer.

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**A/N: **So that's my five cents about pigeons and stuff.

I'm so in love with season 6 and is it just me or is everybody being extra creepy this season?


End file.
